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I know that we've been quiet for a while. This week seems like a good time to step outside for a moment and say something ...

With Chinese New Year fast approaching, the twitchiness and paranoia that is Monkeyshines begin to fill the air. We search trees and parks. We open every newspaper box and look in every potted plant. We discover every single tossed tallboy in every bush. We walk through the city at night hoping to catch a glimpse of our first glass ball of the year. Are you ready for for the Year of the Rooster?

Ms. Monkey and her team, cloaked in anonymity, have created and carefully hidden hundreds (thousands) of handblown glass balls every Chinese New Year since 2003. The balls and medallions are each stamped with a symbol for the new year's animal. They appear in neighborhoods throughout the city. Beautiful Angle posters usually go up that night as well. The even more mysterious Marbleman has been thrilling hunters with his handmade glass marbles the last couple of years. Others have joined in and treasures are now appearing from all over the community. The art is intended to be discovered. It is intended to surprise and be a gift.

The thrill of the hunt has created an extraordinarily devoted and loyal group of followers. The moment a ball or medallion is found, the social interwebs light up with the news. Streets throughout the Tacoma then fill with people looking for their own prized piece of art.

Chinese New Year is Saturday, January 28. Will it happen that night? Maybe some other night?

I moved to Tacoma around 2003 and I stayed until I moved to Seattle in 2010. I really had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I was into the idea of being a poet and I was making ends meet by sewing old sweaters together into hoodies and calling it a fashion label. But, at the bottom of my heart, I knew I was an artist. And an artist needs space. An artist needs room to grow, experiment, fail, and borrow money from older more established artists that take pity on a path unpaved ...

Bill Virgin’s recent article (“Is Tacoma taking Seattle-like growth tactics too far?”, June 4, 2016) in the Tacoma News Tribune represents the latest chapter in the ongoing community dialogue about the character of development patterns emerging during the economic recovery. Finally, after over a decade of planning for growth and development in the city’s neighborhood business districts, Tacoma is finally seeing new density in areas designated for the centralization of growth, which has been the centerpiece of the city’s growth strategy for years ...

We had the pleasure last of night of joining a few friends for dinner at Cooks Tavern. The restaurant, located at North 26th and Alder, is the first Tacoma presence for Seattle-based Chow Foods. Their neighborhood restaurants include places like The Hi-Life in Ballard, 5 Spot on Queen Anne, and Endolyne Joe's in West Seattle. After a year of hard work on the building ...

Pierce Transit, Downtown On the Go, the City of Tacoma and the state Department of Transportation have teamed up to provide a secure bike storage area at the Tacoma Dome Station (TDS). The facility, which will open to the public on Thursday, May 26 at 7 a.m., will offer a mix of vertical, horizontal, and oversized bike racks, a bike repair station, lockers and a bench.

Come for a behind the scenes tour of the #1 Real Estate Company in Pierce County! Have you ever wondered how to become a Realtor; how to choose which brokerage to join; or simply, whether a real estate career is right for you? If so, join us for this FREE event. Hosted by Rebecca Del Pozo, Managing

Gather some friends and Unwind with PCAF as we raise funds to support HIV prevention and case management services throughout the South Sound region. This special happy hour event includes delicious appetizers from Jonz Catering and activities including a photo booth and chance to win a bottle of

M.T. TanK and the Gas Guzzlers are bringin’ ya’ll some good ol’ Outlaw Country and Southern Rock, including Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard and much, much more. So come in, grab a beer and check it out! Free cover

SPM does show tunes! Join members of Seattle Pro Musica and emcee Karen P. Thomas for a lively evening of Broadway choruses and cabaret solos. Start your evening with delicious food and drink from the Wild Ginger-inspired menu. Then sit back and enjoy the show as our members share their favorite

After nearly 10 years fronting other tribute bands, Patrick and Daniel have created “Prom Date Mixtape” to bring their unique talents and love of New Wave, Synth-pop and all things 80s to new and existing fans everywhere! With an ALL-STAR line up and a meticulous sound that recreates all the

Come for a behind the scenes tour of the #1 Real Estate Company in Pierce County! Have you ever wondered how to become a Realtor; how to choose which brokerage to join; or simply, whether a real estate career is right for you? If so, join us for this FREE event. Hosted by Rebecca Del Pozo, Managing

Start Tacoma ArtsMonth off on the right note with a kaleidoscope of pop-up art exhibits, hands-on activities, music and dance performances, and more at this free, family friendly, community festival! Enjoy appetizers and no-host bar while we honor the 2017 AMOCAT Arts Award winners and funding

We like Tacoma, and we like stories about its history - the quirkier, the better - so a newly revamped Tacoma History website is a great place for us to spend some time when current events get to be just a bit too much.

Posted by local historian Michael Sullivan, each story features some episode of Tacoma's past - big and small - told in word and picture.

Sullivan recounts public episodes like the story behind the 40-foot red neon pegasus (complete with animated gold lightning bolts) that once graced the top of Tacoma's tallest building. He also tells more personal stories, like the one of an Oregon woman who followed her Army boyfriend to Tacoma, where she robbed a theater for the money to follow him on to Alaska. and of course, we get the history of that long-gone theater, too.

It's fun to dip into a story or two, and get a snapshot of moments in Tacoma's history -

Tacoma City Council Member Keith Blocker took his place representing the people of Tacoma's Ditrict 3 in January.

To communicate with members of his district and others, Council Member Blocker will be publishing a regular e-newsletter focusing on issues relevant to his constituents. This month's edition includes a look at the Safe Routes to School program, as well as a feature on a "youth of the month," and tidbits on a short list of "District 3's Top 3" individuals and organizations. And there's a good list of ways for Tacoma residents to get involved with their city.

If you're a resident of District 3, or if you just like to keep an eye on what's going on, it's worth a read. If you want to keep up with the newsletter, you can sign up to receive it in your inbox, or just read it online.

Today we find ourselves thinking about the legendary distance runner Steve Prefontaine, who should have turned 65 this week, and enjoying re-reading a 2015 TNT article about Tacoma's (multiple) Prefontaine connections.

You may know that the 1997 movie about his life was filmed, in part, here in Tacoma, on the track and around the campus at UPS. Fewer people know that Pre visited Tacoma back in 1974, just months before the car crash that cut his life short at age 24. While here, he ran with the locals, visited a few (pretty divey sounding) bars, and said of Point Defiance, "This is the most beautiful place I’ve ever run. You don’t know what you have here.”

Tacoma today has a pretty special running community. We'd like to think that if Pre was around, he would still enjoy running here.